I could not recommend this idea enough. So often we wake up and have to go about our days with remembering anything of the alternate reality we were just living in. Writing down your dreams not only can help you generate new ideas for stories, but can also give you insight into just how creative you are, and what inspires passion in you. I'm not saying that you can judge your whole life and personality based on your dreams, but at least through perusing the variety of content you can defiantly come to see yourself as a much more creative person than you previously though. I personally thought I had no creativity whatsoever, but in high school I started writing down my dreams after one particularity interesting affair concerning a giant octopus in my basement. After just one week I had collect a whole batch of random notes, each that I could remember the wild story of. It showed me that there was a lot going on inside my mind, that I wasn't just this lifeless thoughtless robot. Even recently I had two super vivid dreams that inspired me to change my life. Not in huge ways (bleach my hair and ask a specific girl out), but I can still remember them very clearly now thanks to writing them down.
Last night I had a dream that I was writing a poem for the short story contest (even though poems arent short stories...) & when I woke up I could still remember my first line - "It was not me - it was the knife!" "Please Mrs Clark - inanimate objects dont come to life!" Was going to be a story about the weapons coming to life and killing people lol. Kinda upset I cant put that in the contest! xxx
I know I haven't been participating in my own thread but this is all fascinating I have a huge collection of awesome dreams/nightmares. Actually in my 'dream world' I have an actual city where all of it happens. It's really cool, especially because one time I dreamed about my dream city and walked around, seeing all my other dreams. Second question if no one minds; how does one go about explaining the inexplainable without boring the reader by listing a bunch of little details necessary to describe certain structures? Some dreams are just so wacky, even though they'd make a great story.
My dreams is what gives small ideas on what I want to happen with my book. However lynneandlynn yes being on narcs' can have a lot to do with what you dream. I would run with anytype of dream that you get off of that. You could be the next Alice in Wonderland
Sometimes I dream about the characters. At other times I'd just sit idly for a few minutes and imagine them in my head - how they'd act, talk, interact with others etc. Also whenever I see a film or a television program (like HOUSE) and a certain scenario or dialogue appeals to me I'd try and apply them to my characters - like I once had a protagonist named Ludwig (yes, i'm not at all good with names. haha) and I spent hours (literally!) imagining him in the same sandbox as Dr. House and Edmund Blackadder. That was a really really enriching exercise as I personally admire the satire of those two men. /end overly verbal rant.
You too? Oh thank goodness, I was starting to think I was nuts for thinking of more ideas while in the shower.
I have only dreamed about any of my stories once-but I talked about that in another Thread. (Unhappy Character Relationship Thread I believe) I've dreamed something and grown a story out of it...I think. I haven't been dreaming much lately and when I do dream its not very pleasant anymore.
I rarely dream about anything that has to do with my stories, even though I think about my stories often. In one I was one of my fantasy characters giving a tour to a bunch of people in a modern city, and the other I was another of fantasy characters meeting a couple of giant talking frogs in a cave...
Sometimes I daydream about a brief exchange of dialogue in my stories. I do it on purpose, to get to know my characters better (it helps to immerse the reader in the story if the characters seem human) and to make sure I know what it is I need to describe. It's really helpful, IMO.
I never dream about what I write. My dreams (which are more like nightmares) are extremely messed up. For a while I was keeping a dream journal and writing down what would happen in these dreams/nightmares. So instead of dreaming about stuff I write, I've decided that, once I get out of school for the summer, I'm going to take these dreams/nightmares and turn them all into this little collection of short stories.
From time to time, I have very vivid dreams, which I might later write about in some form. I haven't had like a Stephenie Meyer moment, by far, but I've been known to scribble down the dream and consider taking it further. Unfortunately, most of the time they are so strange, I feel like it's a lost cause. On the other hand, I've wanted to dream about my current project, just for inspiration and new ideas...but I never do. I dreamed about my MC once, but it wasn't helpful at all for the story, just a vague, weirdo dream after a dinner the night before of pizza. (For whatever reason, pizza provokes bizarre dreams for me, LOL) I would love to dream about my story, but it just doesn't seem to happen.
I do that too. Though I always try to make sure that I can use the dialogue somehow and incorporate it into the story.
I almost always have dreams about what I'm writing. If I am working on one project sometimes I will dream about another and find myself eager to work on the other when I wake up the next day. I pretty much always remember those sorts of dreams. I feel like they are an integral part of my writing process.
I very occasionally have a dream which I think might make a decent story, but i've never dreamt about one that I am currently writing.
